Mr Fagan replaces Lars Frisell, who was appointed chief economist in February 2012 but left two years later for a role with the IMF in March 2014.

Mr Fagan, who will take up the position in October, joins the Central Bank from the European Central Bank, where he held a number of key roles. Most recently he was senior advisor in the Directorate-General Research. Prior to this, he headed up the Monetary Policy Research and Econometric Modelling Divisions.